Backwards compatibility is not a remastering or remake of older games, but is instead simply an emulation. With this in mind it’s therefore a pleasant surprise that the emulation of Red Dead Redemption on Xbox One runs better than the game did on its original platform.
With Xbox backwards compatibility emulation, it’s not uncommon to see games struggle to run on foreign hardware. In the case of Red Dead Redemption however, Digital Foundry found the game features an improved frame-rate and less screen tearing.
As documented in the video below, the Xbox 360 version of the game ran at 30fps, but often dipped below that, during busy scenes, in towns, and even just in character close-ups. Some of these drops were drastic enough, jumping down to a locked 20fps, to cause visible stuttering.
Aside from a very rare instance of dropping to no lower than 26fps, the Xbox One version sits almost exclusively at 30fps and no longer features the screen tearing apparent in the original.
Red Dead Redemption released via Xbox One backwards compatibility yesterday. When it was first announced, sales of the game skyrocketed on Amazon. This all comes as rumors about a possible sequel have circulated over the past few months.